


lioness

by IceisAwesome



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 20:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4759403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceisAwesome/pseuds/IceisAwesome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place in an alternate universe where Sansa married Tywin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	lioness

It is plain she is still a hostage when Petyr spirits her away to the Vale. She does not trust his sweet words or wandering hands, does not trust any of the servants that watch her. 

When the maester gives her tea that smells of honey she hides and quietly disposes of it. The babe may have his blood, but it will still be hers.

Petyr comes to her one night, drunk on wine, and tries to bed her. When he touches her stomach she snaps. Her mind goes blank and she comes to over his limp body, the man’s dagger in her trembling hands. She will not be used again. 

Sweet Robin is still too young, still too weak, and the lords resentfully let her guide him. She makes the Vale strong, stockpiles supplies and arranges agreements, when her belly swells.

When the lords whisper of incest she reveals herself, uses the name Stark once again. Word comes from the North of the Bolton’s defeat, of Ramsay and Roose hanging in the wind, and she cannot bring herself to smile. Winterfell is ashes and her family gone.

She gives birth one damp morning and looks down at her son, at his green eyes and blonde hair, and thinks she may finally understand Cersei.

She will do anything to protect him, she knows she will break oaths and kill for him, for this boy called Bran.

It is why, when the Dragon Queen comes, she is the first to bend the knee. Sansa sends troops and aid, knowing that her father would have supported Stannis, not the house that killed Lyanna. But her father is dead and gone, and she thinks she knows what Stannis would do to her son.

Daenerys Targaryen summons her to court when the war is won, and looks at her for a long moment. Sansa knows she is examining the babe at her breast, knows she sees the scars on her arms and the lines around her eyes.

She laughs when the Queen asks if she killed her husband, laughs when she tells her she only wanted to. The Queen nods before telling her the Starks are gone and the Lannisters weakened, that she wants someone trustworthy to rule The Rock.

The protests of the remaining Lannisters die on their lips when they see her son’s golden hair and emerald eyes. There is no denying her son’s parentage, no lies for them to fall back on.

She proves her wit quickly, proves she will not be driven from power, and her reputation grows.

They call her the lioness, say she is more beautiful than the queen when clad in gold, claim she brought the rock back from ruin. She laughs at that, because she knows they also say she bedded Daenerys to rule, knows they whisper she murdered Tywin in their marriage bed. 

Her son grows quickly and soon learns the game from her, learns how to kill from his mother’s knights. The Westerlands may have mixed opinions of her, but Bran is adored.

Court adjourns early one day, and she walks to the practice yard. Her son is sparring there, laughing and joking with the other boys, and with a jolt she realizes she is happy.

She may not be queen, she may not have the life she dreamed of, but Sansa thinks this is a satisfactory ending.


End file.
